NewsStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8ServiceAcademics
Porter finishes fifth in state
Apr 26, 2004 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Eighth grader Jeffrey Porter’s spelling bee winning streak took him all the way to State where he finished fifth among 22 top competitors. He correctly spelled 107 words; only six more words were given to spell after the one hundred and eighth one stumped him.
The state competition was the culmination of a series of wins for Porter, starting with winning the Darlington Middle School spelling bee along with classmate Claire Davis. Then, in mid-February, he traveled to Walker School to compete at the Regional level, where he was one of 12 winners.
In later February, Porter traveled to Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, Ga., and won the District title over 60 other spelling champs. First he made the top 20 cut in the written competition and then he and the others in the top 20 competed in a tense oral competition.
With his rivals quickly falling over words most of adults cannot even pronounce much less spell, Porter soon found himself in a standoff with one other competitor. The standoff lasted nearly an hour, until he finally prevailed by spelling the last word, “vacuous.” His victory earned him the right to compete at State in Atlanta in mid-March.
The state competition was the culmination of a series of wins for Porter, starting with winning the Darlington Middle School spelling bee along with classmate Claire Davis. Then, in mid-February, he traveled to Walker School to compete at the Regional level, where he was one of 12 winners.
In later February, Porter traveled to Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, Ga., and won the District title over 60 other spelling champs. First he made the top 20 cut in the written competition and then he and the others in the top 20 competed in a tense oral competition.
With his rivals quickly falling over words most of adults cannot even pronounce much less spell, Porter soon found himself in a standoff with one other competitor. The standoff lasted nearly an hour, until he finally prevailed by spelling the last word, “vacuous.” His victory earned him the right to compete at State in Atlanta in mid-March.
